hello and welcome to bbc news. 2019 is being rung in around the world. and the latest city to celebrate the start of the new year is rio de janeiro. this is copacabana live now. i think it is safe to say that this is the biggest party in the world right now. hundreds of thousands of people lining that 2—mile stretch of beach. this spectacular fireworks display is to go on for another 1a minutes, as brazil welcomes in 2019. those fireworks actually coming off ten

platforms, with people able to watch on big screens, but i think looking there, those big screens are perhaps not necessary. they have been partying all evening therein rio and they are going to go on for a few more hours. lots of musical performances from brazilian singers and bands and he celebrations were eventually closed with a samba school. —— there in rio. we have seen quite a few fireworks

displays in the last few hours, but this one is pretty impressive, as you would expect from rio. all those people there lining the beach, looking up at what is another spectacular display. some interesting facts for you about the celebrations there in copacabana beach. most of the people like the weatherwise. you can't see them now because we're just looking up at the fireworks, but other colours are welcome there and you can also read

some significance into the other colours that people are wearing. —— most of the people like to wear white. of course, they are wearing rather fewer clothes than people in the european capitals that we have been watching the last two hours because it is a bombing 25, 20 six degrees in rio by now. —— aid —— a balmy 25 to 26 degrees in rio right now. each time you make a wish 01’ right now. each time you make a wish or you say something that you are thankfulforfrom or you say something that you are thankful for from the past year. no—one quite knows how this tradition started but it is a tradition started but it is a tradition there. so rio is the

latest city to welcome in 2019 in predictably spectacular style. two hours ago, it was the united kingdom's turn. earlier, paris, dubai, moscow, hong kong, and sydney all celebrated the start of the new year with huge firework displays, just like the one you saw there. let's take a look round the world now with caroline rigby. australia was one of the first places to welcome in the new year, and sydney's celebrations went off with a bang, with its biggest ever fireworks display. huge thunderstorms earlier in the evening didn't dampen the spirits, as 1.5 million spectators turned out to watch. just hours before, auckland, in new zealand, became the first major city to see in 2019. pyrotechnics launched from the skycity tower. in north korea, a mass choir held a concert in pyongyang. # ‘auld lang syne‘.

while almost $2 million worth of fireworks bathed hong kong's victoria harbour in colour, accompanied by a dizzying mash—up of auld lang syne, sung in english, cantonese and mandarin. russians braved the cold to welcome in the new year in moscow's red square, while warmer weather in dubai saw revellers flock to the burj khalifa for a spectacular light show on the world's tallest building. in the french capital, the arc de triomphe was bathed in multicolour, as a volley of fireworks lit up the sky over the champs—elysees. celebrations rang out across europe, from the ancient monuments of the acropolis in greece to berlin's brandenburg gate in

germany. new year wouldn't be new year in london without the bongs of big ben, and the famous bell, which has been silent for renovation work, once again rang out. thousands of people lined the thames to watch the biggest fireworks of britain's exit from the eu. whatever 2019 brings, this was a night that saw the world come together in celebration and in hope for the year ahead. caroline rigby, bbc news. happy new year, london. for now though, we are going to turn

to other news. three people, including a police officer, have been wounded in a stabbing at a train station in manchester, in the north of england. it happened at manchester victoria station. in a statement, british transport police said officers had responded to reports of a man wielding a knife. one man has been arrested. a bbc producer, sam clack, witnessed the incident and he told us what he saw. it was pretty scary, i have to say that, for a start. and there was just me on the platform, and as i was standing there, ijust heard the most bloodcurdling scream that i've ever heard. the police very quickly, were on the platform, they were in hi—vis vests, they were shouting at him and the guys started backing up towards me and he got to probably within six to eight feet of me,

and he was looking around very skittish. and at this point i didn't know that anything was happening, other than a fight or something. it's new year's eve, people get drunk and have a fight. but i looked down and it might have been his right hand, i looked down and thought he had a kitchen knife with a long, 12—inch blade in his hand, and he was backing up towards me, looking very skittish. and at his point, ijust felt a deep fear in the pit of my stomach, and thinking that this is actually — ifeel very, very scared now. and i started to move towards the tracks, getting ready to jump on the tracks, and jump out of the way and run out of the way, at which point one of the police officers shouted "taser". i couldn't say exactly what happened in terms of the next sequence of events, but he was pepper sprayed, he was tasered and he was brought to the ground. food intended for millions of people in yemen who are at risk of starvation is being stolen — that's according to the world food programme.

the un agency says there's an illicit and systematic trade in diverted aid in areas controlled by houthi rebels and has threatened to withdraw from one area, where it claims just 40% of its aid has reached the intended recipients. reem nada works for the un's world food programme in cairo. she told us what the wfp's investigation had found. we have photographs of lorries taking — illicitly taking food from food distribution points to unknown locations, and for the food to be appearing after that on the streets in the markets in yemen, at a time when yemenis are struggling. the most poor, whom we are targeting, are struggling to feed the little ones. mothers are seeing their children dying and wasting away, while they are the rightful owners of this food. we are demanding that the local authorities in sana'a take

appropriate action towards the one organisation that — one partner that we have identified as diverting our food to undeserving people. and there was a letter sent by the executive director of the world food programme to the local authorities, and it does indeed say that within ten days, if we do not see action's being taken, we will withdraw our assistance in that area. and we have actually, and we have — this has been reported already. in that identified area, 40% of our assistance is what has been reaching the people. north korea's leader kim jong—un has given a new year address in which he says the country is still commited to giving up nuclear weapons, and that he is prepared to meet

again "at any time" with us president donald trump. there's been little progress on north korea's denuclearisation since the two leaders held their historic meeting on the issue injune. mr kim said he could be forced to look at what he called "another path", and warned the us not to misjudge north korea's patience. 0ur correspondent laura bicker is injeongdongjin in south korea for us. laura, what the making of address? well, first of all, that renewing of his commitment denuclearisation, i would not just gloss his commitment denuclearisation, i would notjust gloss over that. yes, the international community that this and donald trump, from here and south korea's president moonjae—in about the agreements that kim jong—un signed up to, at kim jong—un's near address is mainly domestic. that means that people

sitting around the breakfast tables of credit for the north korean leader himself, they have heard the words denuclearisation, so do not think that that should be taken too lightly. second war, when it came to his warning, he was very clear, he was very unequivocal. —— second war. despite he acknowledged what had gone on in 2018 between himself and donald trump, relationship that was once hostile had been made new, you did givea once hostile had been made new, you did give a warning to the united states and that warning was we're not going to wait around for ever, it cannot misjudge our patients. they do not want unilateral sanctions placed on north korea, they won't be pressure listed and they won't be pressure listed and they are saying to the united states, yes we are willing to take pa rt states, yes we are willing to take part in denuclearisation that we are not going to do this alone, we are not going to do this alone, we are not going to give up our weapons alone, you have to act too. —— deten. and if you don't act, this kind of current detente nuclear weapons testing, well, that might be

over. and in his new year 's address, he is also talking about the economy? i think again as well, well worth mentioning, 25 minutes of that speech was all about the economy. people talked about kim jong—un's commitment to building the economy, he talked about giving them electricity, more food on the table, making their lives better. a commitment he made me take over his leadership and this is something i think he wants to deliver on. —— this is a commitment he made when he took over his leadership. united states was the pressure pyongyang into giving its nuclear weapons, thatis into giving its nuclear weapons, that is why the end message was around the united states and donald trump's administration and maximum pressure strategy. but i think also the people here in south korea, where this morning they had been making wishes during the sunrise, their new year's wishers, i think that when it comes to what people here want they will have heard some good things. he talked about

developing relationship and south korea is said to the united states, look, is hope in north and south korea about what the two countries can do together. you can have that relationship too if you act. thank you very much. and happy new year. residents of an apartment block in russia have described waking up to find themselves falling, after a gas explosion devastated an apartment building in the urals region. four people were killed in the collapse in magnitogorsk, where it's thought the blast ripped through the first floor, before the seven storeys above then collapsed too. dozens more are missing in subzero temperatures. georgina smyth reports. the homes of 120 people reduced to a pile of rubble. this is the aftermath of a gas explosion in central russia, that ripped through the concrete structure of a nine—story apartment building early on monday morning, when many were still asleep. rescue workers picked through bricks, mortar and tangled metal, desperately looking for survivors. and among the carnage,

people's belongings. president vladimir putin flew in to observe the damage, visiting those injured in a nearby hospital. translation: it's 31 december today, the eve of the festivities. unfortunately, such a tragedy took place in magnitogorsk. i would like to express my condolences to the families of the victims, and to assure those affected that we will do everything to help and support them. it's notjust time rescuers are up against. magnitogorsk is experiencing temperatures of —22 celsius. 0nlookers, visibly distraught, await any news of more survivors. this woman says they received no information. officials believe the collapse was caused by a gas explosion and exacerbated by ageing infrastructure and poor safety regulations. rescue workers will stay on scene and work into what should have been

a happy new year. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the first democrat to signal their intention to run for the white house next year. left—wing senator elizabeth warren says she's thinking about it. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got underway with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we'll be in france, and again, it'll be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his 0xfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder.

i think it looks good. just good? no, fantastic. that's better. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: rio dejaneiro has become one of the latest cities to welcome the new year. hundreds of thousands of people watched a firework show on the copacabana beach. earlier, london was one of the last european capitals to welcome the start of 2019. big ben, the great bell of the clock—tower at parliament, was brought out of repair to ring in the new year. to border force patrol boats are to

be redeployed from overseas to patrol the english channel. the home secretary ‘s announcement comes up he met with border force officials to discuss an action plan to tackle the growing number of migrants attempting to reach the uk. this report contains some flash photography. kent police examining a vessel bringing the latest group of migrants to the english coast. nine men, two women and a child landed here this morning, saying they were iranian nationals. almost 100 have arrived in small boats over the christmas period. morning, home secretary. the home secretary has been forced to swap his south african holiday for meetings in whitehall, promising to take personal control of the situation. i'm working out ways, with the french, to increase the number of returns that we can make, to also send a very strong message that we will do all that we can, notjust to protect human life, because of course that's

the right and responsible thing to do at all times, but also to protect our borders. mrjavid announced he is redeploying two of the border force's largest ships, known as cutters, from abroad back to the uk to join other patrol vessels. the mp for dover says it is important that illegal migrants aren't allowed to stay in the uk. what we need to see now is this dover patrol work hand—in—glove with the french authorities in a new channel compact, so that anyone found in the english channel in one of these unseaworthy craft can be helped carefully and safely back to the french coast, so they know there's no chance of getting into britain. those helping migrants say they shouldn't be demonised. we have to hold on to the fact that people, however desperate they are, are our brothers and sisters in humanity, and that's what we need to keep reminding people about. and they're refugees, unless proved otherwise. in the past, sajid javid has said

that deploying more patrol vessels in the channel could act as a pull factor, encouraging migrants to make an extremely dangerous journey because they think they will be rescued. today, he set those concerns aside, but said people travelling from safe countries such as france couldn't expect to be allowed to stay in the united kingdom. the numbers trying to cross the channel in boats like these are small in comparison to the 26,000 people claiming asylum in the uk in 2017, but political pressure has forced the home secretary to act. vicki young, bbc news. the us democratic senator elizabeth warren has announced she is considering running for president in 2020, with a decision expected early in the new year. she's the first high profile democrat to put herself forward for the race. ms warren made the announcement in a post on twitter in which she outlined her

vision for the united states. a short while ago she spoke to reporters outside her home. today i announced an exploratory committee president of the united states. i never thought i would run for anything ever in my life, but america's middle class is getting hollowed out and opportunity for too many of our young people is shrinking. so, i'm in this fight all the way. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue told us more about her message. she's talking about america and a washington that works only for the wealthy and the well—connected. it's obviously going to be a catchphrase of hers, i think, during this campaign. she's said that multiple times already. she said she's going to build a grassroots campaign with small dollar donations, a bit like bernie sanders did last time around, and indeed, barack 0bama did when he won victory. and she's clearly pitching her stand where we would expect on the left of the party. she'd have been a champion, if you like, of workers' rights

in terms of representation on the boards of big companies, union representation, she's talked about raising the minimum wage significantly of course, and she's been really sort of a scourge in some ways of wall street and those sorts of institutions. it's going to be difficult for her because there are going to be other people on that wing of the party, not least perhaps even bernie sanders himself, who's got that huge infrastructure already in place from the last time he ran and all those people he galvanised in that time, those huge rallies. they're going to be on a similar sort of territory. there could be others too. but the thing here is that this field is going to be so crowded, there could be upwards of a dozen, even two dozen people in this field, and the issue of course is that not only is there limited amounts of political space to share out between these people in order to distinguish themselves from one another, but the bottom line is there's a limited amount of cash

too, and a lot of them will fall out of the race simply because their campaigns go broke. a nasa probe is set to make history in the next few hours when it's due to fly past a space rock more than 4 billion miles from earth. if successful, it will be the furthest object ever visited by a space craft. it has taken a long, dark trek through the outer reaches of the solar system. but now, the nasa spacecraft new horizons is on the brink of making history, about to reach the remotest world that humanity has ever ventured to. it's pure exploration. pure science and pure exploration. we're trying to understand the origin of the planets, and the object that we're going to fly by, nicknamed ‘ultima thule', is a frozen time capsule from the era of the birth of our planets. to explain what this mission is all about, let's use our virtual studio, and start with the middle of our solar system. now, orbiting closest to the sun are the four small rocky planets, including earth.

then, further out, there are four much larger planets. the best—known of these is saturn with its famous rings. and then, right on the margin, there's tiny pluto, 3 billion miles away. but it turns out that pluto is just one part of a massive outer zone we only started discovering in the last 20 years or so, thousands of tiny worlds, and lumps of rock and ice known as the kuiper belt. these are objects left over after the planets were formed. one of these is known as ultima thule, and until now, we've only had this artist's impression of it. but after racing from earth on a 13—yearjourney, nasa's new horizons spacecraft is about to fly past it, the most distant exploration in human history. we're going to be downloading data from the spacecraft at one kilobit

per second over the next almost two years. now, the great thing about such a slow data transmission rate is that it's almost the gift that keeps on giving. every week or so, we'll get new images back from the spacecraft, and we're going to learn new things for the next two years. three years ago, the same spacecraft flew past pluto, and revealed something entirely unexpected — that it's far more active than anyone realised. it may even have an ocean beneath the surface. so now, the discoveries about an even more distant world to be made in the coming hours may be just as surprising. david shukman, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. hello.

the closing stages of 2018 brought a lot of cloud across much of the uk. however, some clearer skies across northern scotland, and it's these clearer skies which will slowly filter their way southwards through new year's day. so increasing amounts of sunshine but also a colder feel behind this weakening cold front, running into an area of high pressure, so that all that's going to be left on it is just a band of cloud. and think of it really a dividing line between the milder airfurther south and west, and something colder further north and east. combine that with a brisk north or north—westerly wind along eastern coasts and it will feel quite chilly to start new year's day. and to start new year's day. this is how the morning si up. and this is how the morning shapes up. it will be dry with sunshine, more in the way of cloud across wales and parts of ireland bringing the odd spot of rain that will not amount to much. a peppering of showers across the northern isles, sunshine in between, still quite windy here for a time, but those gusts will slowly ease down.

a noticeable breeze across northern ireland, northern and western england, southern scotland. much more in the way of cloud across wales through the midlands, down towards south—east england, and the far south—west of england may be getting the odd spot of rain, but that will soon disperse, and through the day, increasing amounts of sunshine from the north, say for the far south—west of england, slowly through the day we will see increasing amounts of sunshine, and noticeable north—westerly wind will start to dig in and it will feel chilly at long the eastern coast. this is an idea of the strength of the wind through the afternoon. starting to ease down across the northern ireland. temperatures in a rage from 5— six across scotland and northern ireland reaching heaven— 12 across england and wales. as we go through new year's day evening and into wednesday we start to see clear skies developing, particularly across western areas. we like to hold onto more cloud and he was seabreeze that temperatures are staying above freezing but elsewhere will be a chilly start to wednesday with the temperatures of widely at 01’ with the temperatures of widely at orjust with the temperatures of widely at or just below freezing. with the temperatures of widely at orjust below freezing. wednesday

looks like a fine day with plenty of sunshine for most. the eastern coast is likely to pick up more cloud and noticeable breezy making it feel much cooler. essentially a dry day for many with plenty of sunshine, particularly under cloud the temperatures not much higher than three of audit resources across goal and, reaching seven or eight further south. the first week of the new year will turn cold, frost and fog returns but more in the way of sunshine. hello. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: brazil has welcomed in the 2019 with a fireworks display above the present copacabana beach in rio. in

london, big ben, the great earl of london, big ben, the great earl of london parliament's london, big ben, the great earl of london pa rliament‘s clocktower was bought out to ring in the new year. —— london's clocktower. three people including a police officer have been wounded in a stabbing in the northern english city of manchester. one man has been arrested. a bbc staff member who witnessed the attacks said the suspect shouted "allah", and slogans criticising the actions of western governments in the middle east. the world food programme says that food aid in yemen is being stolen in areas under the control of houthi rebels and illegally sold. a separate news agency investigation had found a similar misuse of food aid in regions under the sway of the saudi—led coalition.